Little Bro

Today I was watching Jack and Ben play together and it reminded me of these pics from 5 years ago. This is Jack, arms open wide, the day we brought Ben home from the hospital. The first picture is one of my very favorites of him. That sweet expression, he had been waiting 7 weeks for the new baby brother to come home! He was just 2 months shy of turning 3 years old.

 He has always been so sweet with Ben, even when Ben couldn't do all the things other "little brothers" were suppossed to do. In fact lately the favorite thing for them to do together is play the Wii. And even though I hear "BEN!!! Dont go that way you are making me die!!" quite a bit, they both love it. Ben will jump up and down and hug Jack as they beat a level. He also establishes early on in the day (in fact several times a day) that "Jack will play Wii after school and homework."

                                                                                  

I think I need to rethink my vocabulary.

When I called it a "handicap" Scott said "what do you mean? Nothing is wrong with Ben he is GREAT!" When I thought Jack was "missing out" on playing and doing typical things with his brother, I saw him learning patience and empathy (and still having a great time.) There is no way to predict the relationship your kids will have and even though the last 5 years have been challenging, and my kids have sacraficed a lot,  maybe that is why the relationship they have is so strong.  

Ty is 3

Ok I do have 4 other children, I havent forgotten them. But something about this age (3) is so funny and so cute that I want to remember it all. I think part of why I am appreciating it so much it that we missed a lot of this with Ben. Ben has had growths and milestones that are all his own and so much of what we share with him is unique. But Ty is reminding me of my older kids and the funny things he says and does are just..... fun! And it looks like this is the last 3 year old we will have until grandkids.

I was chatting with our nurse Cindy, and Ty just came out and told me... "MOM! me and Cindy BUSY! you clean up the house! Cindy play in the playroom!" Not bossy spoiled last child at all.

It's ME!!!!

Ty thinks that anytime he has any type of item on his face, we dont realize that it is still him. A football helmet, sunglasses, hat, even just making a silly face or being "scary".... he thinks they are all great elements of disguise and he will pull them off with a flourish yelling, "IT'S ME TY!!" and of course we are so thrilled and RELIEVED that our Tybo is back.
I love that he knows, that whenever he walks into a room we are thrilled to see him. He stretches his arms high above his head and is up on his tippy toes as he announces that "It's me!"  Of course you make our day Ty!

He was playing Legos and I had given him some carrots to "build" with. He had lined all the carrots up around the men and I said "oh no! They cant get out!" He looked at them for a minute then put his hands up to his mouth and called "OH TOODLE!"  (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse reference...)

This seems to come in handy in all situations, when he needs a drink , when he wants to get down from somewhere....he calls for toodle. I love this age where the line between make believe and real life is so vague!

Jack's Face.

I love it, it is so funny and so cute. For some reason Jack lost one of his front teeth last year but not the other. So one full adult front tooth has now come in right next to the baby front tooth. (Our orthodontist said this happens sometimes and is not a big deal.) He didnt seem to notice his new "smile" until the first day of school when his friend asked him 'where he got that big tooth!?" (when he told me he seemed a little confused... "where DID I get it mom?")

 We also were reminded that Jack tends to have allergic reactions to mosquito bites. He went to Yosemite with Jonathan came home after three days and woke up the next day with a swollen face, so he got to take off the last school days of the week. Sweet Jack!